


How To Get A Fiancé In 24 Hours: A Comprehensive Guide By Dan Howell

by stylinshaw



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Fluff, Humor, M/M, Marriage Proposal, New Year's Eve, This is literally all fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 16:53:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9132979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stylinshaw/pseuds/stylinshaw
Summary: On New Year's Eve, Dan decides he wants to propose before 2016 ends.(Includes: A number of failed proposals, one successful one, and a whole lot of fluff)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Happy new year! I decided I wanted to write a NYE themed fic ages ago but I only started doing it yesterday. Maybe that's why this is kind of short. This was loads of fun for me to write, though! D&P have had an incredible year and my love for them has only grown. 
> 
> Also this is like my fourth proposal fic. i'm never gonna get tired of writing proposal fic
> 
> Disclaimer: d&p aren't mine!
> 
> Hope you enjoy :D

**12am**

Dan’s been sitting on the couch for a good few hours now, surfing the internet like he does every night. When he glances at the clock at the corner of his screen, he notes with a detached sort of surprise that it’s past twelve already.

“Hey,” he says, to catch Phil’s attention. The older man is seated opposite him, tapping away at his phone, though he looks ready to doze off any second now. “Happy new year’s eve!”

“Hm?” is Phil’s eloquent response. There’s a pause in which Dan rolls his eyes fondly while Phil registers what time it is. Phil’s resulting smile is enough to sweep any thoughts of mild exasperation out of Dan’s mind.

“Crazy year, huh?” Phil says softly.

“Well,” Dan begins. “That does sum up our year pretty well.”

Phil laughs, the sound immediately making its way into Dan’s mental box of happy things. Before either of them can say anything further, Phil lets out a huge yawn.

“Someone’s tired, huh?” Dan teases gently. “Go to sleep, Phil. I’ll come to bed in a while.”

“But Dan,” Phil starts, eyes widening ever so slightly. “The bed is too big without you.”

“Is it?” Dan says, raising his eyebrows amusedly. “I wonder how we can fix that problem.”

“I wonder,” Phil repeats, as he stands up. He walks over and closes Dan’s laptop, holding out his hand. Dan grabs Phil’s hand and hoists himself up, and they begin walking to Phil’s bedroom.

“Every new year’s, I think that the next year can’t be any better for me,” Phil says, words forming around another yawn. “But somehow, life keeps proving me wrong and each year gets better than the last.” He pauses. “I think you’ve got something to do with that.”

At that, a wave of affection crashes over Dan so strongly that he _has_ to wind his arms around Phil’s torso and draw him in for a hug. Phil huffs out a laugh against Dan’s shoulder.

“I love you,” Dan mumbles into Phil’s hair. In that moment, he makes a decision, one involving him, Phil, and the ring that’s been buried in the back of his closet for over a year.

“I love you too,” Phil replies, leaning up to connect his lips with Dan’s. As Dan melts into the kiss, he thinks about the fact that the next time he kisses Phil, they’re going to be engaged.

 

**8am**

Dan’s body clock won’t let him sleep past eight, so he spends a full ten minutes in bed staring at the way Phil’s eyelashes fan over his cheekbones while simultaneously contemplating how to propose. He decides on making breakfast for the two of them and popping the question once they’re done. It doesn’t sound too hard.

So Dan slips out of bed quietly, washes up, and heads to the kitchen. Pancakes seem like a safe enough option so he grabs a bowl and a spoon, and sets to work. He’s halfway through mixing the batter when he realises he’s forgotten the ring, so he balances his bowl on the kitchen counter before heading to his room to find the little velvet box. Everything is going to plan so far, or so he thinks. Because right before he exits his room, he hears glass shattering.

“Oh, fuck me,” he mutters under his breath, tossing the box back into his closet before running out to the kitchen. The floor is covered in batter, with shards of glass everywhere.

“Dan?” As if this morning couldn’t get any worse. Dan turns to see Phil rubbing at his eyes, concern painted over his features. “What happened? Are you hurt?”

“It’s fine,” Dan responds hastily. “Don’t mind me, I was going to make pancakes, but not anymore, I guess.” He gestures to the floor. “I’ll clean this up.”

“Don’t be silly,” Phil says, walking over and dropping a kiss onto Dan’s cheek. “I’ll help you. Though, why were you making pancakes so early in the morning?”

“Dunno,” Dan answers. “It was a spontaneous decision.” He’s going to keep his secret for now, and propose to Phil by the end of the day. This was just a little blip in his plan, that’s all.

“Alright, we’ll clean up, then we can have cereal,” Phil says, as he starts walking out, presumably for cleaning supplies.

“And whose cereal are we going to eat?” Dan replies, teasingly.

“I’m going to steal your cereal forever, Dan Howell,” Phil calls back. Dan smiles to himself. Forever sounds good.

 

**4pm**

It’s only after they’ve had lunch when Dan starts thinking of how he can propose, again. He’s looking around, trying to find inspiration, when his eyes land on one of their shelves, filled with DVDs.

Getting up, he grabs the Buffy box set from the shelf before heading to his room, an idea forming in his mind.

*

“Hey, want to watch Buffy?” Dan asks, leaning against the doorframe. At Dan’s question, Phil looks up from his laptop.

“You know I always want to watch Buffy,” Phil replies. “Now?”

“Yup, I’ve got it set up in my room,” Dan says. “Come on.”

He walks into his room, surveying his work. He’d dragged in a couple of chairs from the lounge and thrown his duvet over them, with pillows and cushions adorning the floor beneath. Two mugs of steaming hot chocolate sit in front of Dan’s laptop, with an episode of Buffy paused on the screen. Fairy lights are draped around the top for good measure.

“Oh, Dan,” Phil gasps, from behind him. “It’s lovely.”

“Thank you,” Dan says, relaxing into the hug Phil gives him.

“What’s the occasion?” Phil murmurs into Dan’s neck.

“Oh, nothing,” Dan replies, the weight of the ring box heavy in the pocket of his sweats. “Nothing at all.”

*

They’re about halfway into the episode when Dan decides he’s going to pop the question once it’s done. Happy that he’s got a goal now, he untangles his arm from where it’s wrapped around Phil to grab his mug of hot chocolate-

-and promptly spills it all over himself. The liquid isn’t scalding anymore, but the feeling of the warm milk seeping into his jumper is uncomfortable enough.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” he says under his breath, more to the universe than anything. He’s being trolled, he’s sure of it. First the pancakes, now this.

“Oh my god, Dan!” Phil shoots up, closing Dan’s laptop abruptly. “Does it hurt?”

“No, no, I’m fine,” Dan says reassuringly. “I’m going to change.”

“Okay,” Phil replies, eyes big and worried as Dan makes his way out of their makeshift fort. The moment he’s out of Phil’s range of sight, he snatches the box out of his pocket to make sure it isn’t stained or chocolatey.

Blessedly, the box seems intact. But the moment’s been ruined- Dan doesn’t want to propose now. As he picks out a set of clean clothes, the box ends up back in its spot in the closet.

 

**9pm**

_The third time’s the charm_ , is what Dan thinks as he orders pizza for dinner. He’s going to get the pizza, set the table nicely, and going to get down on one knee once their meal is over. It’s foolproof. There’s no way he can fuck it up.

*

Or so he thought.

On the bright side, it wasn’t actually Dan’s fault this time- Phil had left a candle burning in his room and one of the curtains had caught fire. A lot of shrieking, a bucket of water, and one fire alarm later, Dan sits on the edge of Phil’s bed, his arm twined around Phil’s waist.

“That was a nice curtain,” Phil says, pouting.

“It was,” Dan says, agreeably. “We can get an identical one, don’t worry.” Outwardly he’s calm- inwardly he’s near tears. Is he not destined to propose to Phil in 2016? That must be what it means. Three failed attempts seems enough. Dan’s going to plan something for next weekend and he’ll propose to Phil then. Maybe making spontaneous decisions just isn’t for him.

“Thanks for being my knight in shining armour,” Phil says quietly.

“No problem,” Dan responds, pressing a kiss to Phil’s temple. “Let’s try not to leave any more candles burning now, yeah?”

Phil’s smile is enough for Dan to want to pull the box out then and there, but he holds off. He doesn’t want anything else to go wrong.

 

**12am**

They’re sitting by the window, waiting for the fireworks to go off. The TV is on as well, with a presenter counting down live on screen. Dan checks his phone- _11:55._ Exactly five minutes until 2017.

“I feel like I should be apprehensive about what the new year will bring,” Phil begins. “But I really don’t care, as long as you’re here with me.”

Oh, fuck. Phil can’t just say things like that and _get away_ with it. Dan’s thoughts stray to the possibly cursed engagement ring, and after a statement like that, why not? One last try, he thinks.

“I love you,” Dan says, just so it doesn’t look like he doesn’t share the sentiment wholeheartedly. “And I will be right back.”

He jogs to his room, taking a moment to check the time on his phone. _11:57._ Three minutes to go. He throws open his closet and finds the box where he’d put it last, under a pile of shirts. Pocketing it, he strolls back into the living room, trying to seem casual.

“Where’d you go?” Phil asks. Dan sits down, close enough that their shoulders are touching.

“Nothing you won’t find out about soon enough,” he responds cheerily. He may have had a number of flops throughout the day, but he has a good feeling about this one.

They spend the next few minutes sitting in companionable silence, Dan’s mind racing the entire time. Finally, the presenter onscreen announces the start of the countdown.

“Ten!”

Phil turns to Dan. Dan stands up.

“Nine!”

Phil follows suit, standing up to join Dan. Dan gets down on one knee, pulling the velvet box out of his pocket as he does so.

“Eight! Seven! Six!”

“I love you so much, Phil Lester,” Dan says. Phil’s hands fly to cover his mouth, eyes widening. “Marry me?”

“Five!”

“Yes,” Phil breathes out. “Of course, Dan.”

“Four!”

Dan slides the ring onto Phil’s finger, elation spreading through his veins as he stands up.

“Three!”

“I love you too,” Phil says softly, wrapping his arms around Dan. “So much.”

“Two!”

Dan pulls Phil in for a kiss. So what if they’ve started early? Dan certainly doesn’t care.

“One! Happy new year, everyone!” cheers the presenter, voice tinny through the speakers on their TV.

“Happy new year, indeed,” Dan says, unable to stop the smile from spreading on his face as they break apart for air.

“Was that why you were being so romantic today?” Phil questions, nose scrunched adorably. “I knew something was up.”

“I’ll have you know that I am always romantic,” Dan says, mock-haughtily. “But, yes. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing.”

Phil lets out a laugh and leans in for a kiss again. So it did work out, Dan thinks. They’re engaged.

He’s pretty sure 2017 is going to be a good year.

**Author's Note:**

> fun, extra bit of trivia: the next time they kiss they actually are engaged. dan had one accurate prediction in this ;)
> 
> comments/kudos are LOVE! thank you for reading :D
> 
> check out my [blog](http://altphan.tumblr.com) if you're interested! happy new year once again :)


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